Which professional sport requires the least skill?

[OvertimeNO]

How are people saying baseball is the hardest? Fat David Ortiz almost won MVP one year by doing nothing but hitting, literally.

Huh? What does that have to do with the topic?

The question isn't what sport requires the most athleticism or which sports' players are in the best shape.

The point is from a skill standpoint, how does Baseball require the most skill when someone can achieve the highest award by literally succeeding in just one part of the game? Hitting is difficult, but cmon.

Could it possibly be because the award system is screwy at best? Witness the never-ending flamewar over whether pitchers should be eligible for MVP.

[Gongxi]

Hitting is probably the hardest thing in major sports. When it's such a critical part of the game, I'd say that makes that sport one of the hardest to play.

[Master Shake]

Which professional sport requires the least skill?

I'd have to go with baseball.

I didn't even bother reading the rest of the posts in the thread, but I assume you got ripped on enough but I just can't let something like this go...

You obviously haven't played baseball. I played at a small college, a pitcher, and I top out about 84 mph for my fastball, throw a 12-6 curveball in the low 70s, and then a nasty circle change. I'd be willing to bet you everything in my bank account you couldn't touch any of those pitches, and I played at a division 2 university...

Let me tell you, the pros in baseball are ABSOLUTE STUDS. Hitting a ball 500+ feet off of a professional pitcher with a WOOD bat is freaking unbelievable, and it happens almost at least once a game. Hitting a baseball is generally regarded as the toughest thing to do in sports. And from personal experience just playing in college it is, in my career I have 2 home runs with metal bats, thats it. Granted, I'm a pitcher, that should tell you something... I've always been a solid hitter and only have 2 homers...

Baseball players make the sport look the easiest out of any profession, those shots that get fielded cleanly at 3rd, all the diving catches, let me tell you, that takes a TON of skill. You try catching a rocket at 3rd base from A-Rod and getting up to throw him out at 1st... Its completely ignorant to think baseball doesn't require skill.

The obvious answer is positionally in football. Strength and size win in the trenches, that doesn't take much skill, but it takes skill. The footwork, moves, and all the other things are hard. Quarterbacks and receivers are very skilled, linemen not as much.

And whoever says Hockey is also just not knowledgeable... you try handling that puck on ice they way those guys do... the pros puck handling skills are out of this world...

[MaliBrah]

Soccer

[Gold Chain]

Granny Bangin'.

Or Nana Pluggin' for the alternatatas.

Under Armour remains uninterested.

[doctorfunk]

Football isn't the easiest. Basketball is by far. American football requires tremendous skills, depending on your position. The most skilled sport is baseball, because its not an athletic sport. Not when 250 pound fatass guys like Yankee pitcher Sabathia can be a starting pitcher.

How is basketball by far the easiest. I think basketball takes the most skill because there are so many facets of the game like shooting, ball-handling, rebounding, defense, and a player can be limited depending on his athletic abilty.

in what other sport Luis Scola >>> Stromile Swift ???!!!! smh
it takes loads of skill to play in the NBA, you can be fast,strong and explosive as any NBA player still you may find yourself out of the league after 1st season.

[TheKingofSting]

soccer or hockey

[B-Ball Freak]

The whole Antonio Gates thing is overblown, he was good in basketball yes but the dude was only 6'4 and playing SF/PF...the ultimate definition of a tweener. He had no chance at playing pro ball, he was just meant to play football and not basketball. But I do agree that it takes more skill to play pro basketball then pro football, but not by much.

Some people really underestimate the skill involved in football, route running for wide receivers, vision/patience and cutting for running backs, ball-hawking for defensive backs, etc.

[Silk Wilkes]

Being Canadian and I ask you all if you; have you ever heard of either Lacrosse or Curling? Thread over.

[MAQ]

The problem with baseball is that it has two things that are hard to do - pitch and hit - and the rest of it, even including fielding, are all things average people can do pretty well with a little practice. The pros admittedly do it the best, but the basic skills of running catching and throwing make it easier than some other sports in those respects.

Woah...Average people are not going to be able to field the ball and throw a runner out "pretty well with a little practice". It's going to take a ton of practice to get even just okay at it.

Even catching the ball in baseball seems simple in theory, but in practice, it's more difficult than it seems. That is something that average people could do well with little practice, but so is catching a football...with even less practice.

Back to fielding, I'd definitely say that an average person would be better at running routes in football than they would be at fielding a ball and throwing a guy out with the same amount of practice and athletic ability.

[Master Shake]

The problem with baseball is that it has two things that are hard to do - pitch and hit - and the rest of it, even including fielding, are all things average people can do pretty well with a little practice. The pros admittedly do it the best, but the basic skills of running catching and throwing make it easier than some other sports in those respects.

Woah...Average people are not going to be able to field the ball and throw a runner out "pretty well with a little practice". It's going to take a ton of practice to get even just okay at it.

Even catching the ball in baseball seems simple in theory, but in practice, it's more difficult than it seems. That is something that average people could do well with little practice, but so is catching a football...with even less practice.

Back to fielding, I'd definitely say that an average person would be better at running routes in football than they would be at fielding a ball and throwing a guy out with the same amount of practice and athletic ability.

Exactly, I routinely see very good players boot the ball while I play. Somebody bad would boot it every time. Once you catch it... you gotta throw it.

[Foye]

Soccer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY[/youtube]

I'd say baseball.

[Roger Murdock]

Bastketball easily. If you are 7 feet tall and keep yourself healthy and in good shape you have really really good shot of making the NBA.

[doctorfunk]

Bastketball easily. If you are 7 feet tall and keep yourself healthy and in good shape you have really really good shot of making the NBA.

common misconception
there are tons of healthy 7ft involved in basketball who have zero chance to sniff nba court

[Master Shake]

Soccer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY[/youtube]

I'd say baseball.

Those who say baseball have never played...

[Optms]

I'm not a baseball guy but to my knowledge, I never hear of guys making it to the majors on anything other than production or skill. To play baseball at that level, its entirely all skill. Athletic ability means nothing if you can't hit, field, or pitch.

In our sport, we see guys making the league on athletic ability alone which isn't really skill. That's unheard of in baseball. Basketball has to be somewhere downward the bottom to be honest.

[word]

Probably football, than baseball, i don't get why people say baseball is that tough. The fact that you say proffesionals only hit about .250 as their batting average is NOT a good argument that makes this sport hard. You can't be comparing Batting averages to field goal %, a logical person wouldn't be comparing how hard a sport is with those statistics. Honestly there are plenty of baseball players probably in single or double A that can hit a homerun or hit for a good average against a major league pitcher right now.

[boogie-reke]

Everyone in American football bar the QB, and prolly NBA bigs are the lowest

Real football is the highest and hardest.

No such thing a "real" football. American football is football, so is soccer.

When both are called the same name, for me real football is what you call soccer.

[KF10]

If the best player in the game of soccer is a 5'5'' manlet, it should be a given that soccer requires skills to play! haha

[Don Draper]

I'm not a baseball guy but to my knowledge, I never hear of guys making it to the majors on anything other than production or skill. To play baseball at that level, its entirely all skill. Athletic ability means nothing if you can't hit, field, or pitch.

In our sport, we see guys making the league on athletic ability alone which isn't really skill. That's unheard of in baseball. Basketball has to be somewhere downward the bottom to be honest.

This.